Tweet

Road Trip Leadership Adventures

Family road trips are vacations that create memories that last forever. Seventeen years ago, my parents rented an RV and as a family, we left Central Florida and set our sights to the western part of the United States. We made it as far as Nevada and traveled back through the lower half of the states. Whenever my family is together, we always talk about that trip and how much fun we had in that two-week period. I imagine we always will. This week my family and I have taken a mini road trip and I have enjoyed it thus far.

I think that there are leadership lessons that can be learned on a Family Road Trip.

Which Way Do We Go?

Planning is necessary. It helps process forethought and aides with forecasting. My family and I planned this trip to celebrate my mom’s 50th birthday. Faced with three direct routes from North Carolina to Florida’s panhandle, my wife and I chose the route that required less drive time.

[Tweet “A detailed plan is only good until the first obstacle forces a change.”]

An accident prevented us from sticking to our plan. We were unable to visit a few attractions we wanted to see, because this accident added four hours to our drive-time.

Rocks On The Road

A dump truck started to lose its load in front of us. I was faced with two options: slow down or speed up to distance myself from the truck.

When leaders are faced with a “Rocks on the road” situation they have the option to press forward and plow through the rubble potentially causing harm  or slow down and create space from oncoming obstacles.

[Tweet “Obstacles are coming, be quick and confident with the response.”]

Controlled Chaos

There are so many distractions that take place on the road. Screaming kids, wreck-less driving, children fighting over toys and pretzels, a wife freaking out about my driving skills, etc. Uncontrolled chaos leads to a miserable trip for everyone.

Leaders don’t allow chaos to go unchecked.

[Tweet “An increase in chaos creates a decrease in trust.”]

The Urge To Merge

Merging from an off-ramp to the interstate is a skill, many drivers never quite master. The purpose of a merging of traffic lanes is to combine drivers from two separate lanes into one single lane. Once the merge is successful there is cohesion and even-flow of traffic.

As leaders we want all of our team members to “merge” together under the same purpose and vision. When the purpose and vision is clear, every member of the organization has the opportunity to move in the same direction.

My organization has recently updated our purpose and vision statements to simplify and bring clarity to our current and future team members. My leadership team and I want everyone in our organization to have the purpose and vision on the forefront of their minds every time the serve a guest.

[Tweet “Clarity simplifies confusion. “]

Disciplined Patience 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that can have patience, can have what he will.”

Many drivers are extremely impatient on the road, and because there are impatient drivers more accidents happen. Impatient children can’t wait for the lid to be twisted back on their cup. Impatient parents rush children to finish eating, so they can get back on the road. Whatever the case, we struggle with patience.

Developing the leadership quality of patience doesn’t happen over night. It takes discipline.

[Tweet “Patience is not determined by the length of wait, but the attitude during the wait.”]

Family road trips are fun, but also leave plenty of opportunity for stress and miscommunication. Leadership can be similar. Leading is fun when it’s done right. Plans will get delayed, rocks will get thrown in your face, chaos and distractions will come, unity can happen, patience will develop. It’s not easy, but the road to being a great leader is worth it.